Accessible computer systems have proven susceptible to various attacks by computer hackers. In a type of computer attack known as a denial of service attack, a hacker attempts to deny service to legitimate users of online computer services. For instance, a hacker may send a high number of illegitimate access requests to an accessible computer system of an online computer service, causing the computer system to dedicate its resources to handling the illegitimate access requests rather than handling legitimate access requests from legitimate users. In this manner, legitimate users may be denied access to the online computer service because of the influx of illegitimate access requests sent by the hacker. This type of attack is commonly known as a synchronize (SYN) flood.
Another type of a computer attack occurs when a hacker attempts to gain unauthorized access to an online computer service. In this type of attack, the hacker uses a client to attempt to establish an unauthorized connection with the online computer service. Using a known logon identification, the hacker attempts to crack the password associated with the known logon identification by using a computer program that associates several passwords with the logon identification in rapid succession, repeatedly attempting to establish a connection to the computer service using the known logon identification and one of the associated passwords. This type of attack may tax processing resources to effectively deny legitimate users access to the online computer service.
When subject to such attacks, accessible computer systems may be forced to cease operation.